AGCOM REGULATION ON COPYRIGHT HELD LAWFUL: REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ISSUES VERY RECENT JUDGMENT. THE LAW FIRM LGV AVVOCATI HAS ALREADY DEALT WITH THE ISSUE ON THE 25TH EDITION OF THE PUBLICATION “QUADERNI DI AIDA – IL REGOLAMENTO AGCOM SUL DIRITTO D’AUTORE”.

4/04/2017

With an extremely recent decision dated 30 March 2017, the Regional Administrative Tribunal for Latium rejected the claim for annulment of the regulation adopted by the Communications Authority with resolution no. 680/13/CONS of 12 December 2013 concerning the protection of copyrighted works on electronic communications networks. The issue and the regulation have already been commented by Ms Simona Lavagnini just after its entry into force, in 2014, in the 25th release of the well-known publication “Quaderni di AIDA- Il regolamento Agcom sul diritto d’autore”.


 

AGCOM is the Italian Communications Authority, responsible for supervising the implementation of fair competition among market operators and for protecting fundamental rights in the telecommunications, mass media and editorial sectors. In December 2013, the Authority adopted a Regulation dealing with the protection of copyrighted works made available on electronic communications networks (foremost, the Internet). The most important provisions of the Regulation are those allowing the copyright holder to petition the Authority in cases where his or her digital work has been made available on an Internet page and he or she believes that doing so amounts to an infringement of the Copyright Law. The Regulation then provides for an examination phase involving the service providers and, if possible, the person or entity that has made the content available on the web (i.e. the “uploader”), as well as the administrator of the web page and Internet website. This procedure can either end with the archiving of the case; or, alternatively, where a violation has been found, the Authority can adopt different types of measures such as selective removal of the works, disabling access to said works or disabling access to the Internet website. The innovative powers conferred by the regulation to the Authority brought some Italian scholars to examine in depth the upcoming scenario in the on-line copyright enforcement. The results of said analysis have been published on the 25th release of the well-known publication “Quaderni di AIDA” to which Ms. Simona Lavagnini has actively collaborated.

Shortly after its adoption a claim was put forward before the Regional Administrative Tribunal for Latium by a varied host of consumer and industry associations, who set forth a number of arguments which, summarily, were to the effect that with the adoption of the Regulation the Authority had exercised powers it had not been granted under the law. However, with its decision of 30 March 2017, the Tribunal held that such claim had no basis, for several reasons.

To begin with, it emerged that from a global reading of the applicable norms, the electronic communications providers are – contrary to what had been argued by the petitioners – required to collaborate with the Authority in pursuing copyright infringements carried out on their networks. More precisely, the Tribunal held that: “a systematic reading of the legislation confirms the existence of regulatory and supervising powers which the Authority can exercise with respect to the service providers, also by way of application of measures aimed at ending infringements of the Copyright Law, these being remedies that are concurrent and not substitutive of those conferred on the ordinary legislative authorities” (para. 6.4 of the judgment). Therefore, the Tribunal held that the Communications Authority is indeed the body responsible for monitoring copyright infringements occurring within the context of electronic communication, that it could and should have adopted means of exercising its functions, that it did so with the adoption of the Regulation and that this in no way encroached upon the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts (so-called “judicial and administrative double-track”). Furthermore, the Tribunal found that the adoption of the Regulation complied with the Italian Constitution. The Tribunal explicitly stated that, by adopting the Regulation, the Communications Authority had validly exercised its regulatory powers and, moreover, that the provisions of the Regulation “are not such as to raise any issues of unconstitutionality requiring intervention by the Constitutional Court” (para. 8).

In addition to the above, the Tribunal went on to consider the other points of the claim for annulment of the Regulation. In particular, the Tribunal held that the Authority can also issue blocking orders against infringers of copyrighted digital works, without thereby infringing EU law  (para. 11 of the judgment). It also addressed the claim set forth by the petitioners to the effect that the costs of removals of infringing content entirely fell upon the ISPs, whereas the copyright holder, who could unlimitedly report infringements, incurred no such expenses. The Tribunal was unpersuaded by such argument and rejected it completely, incisively noting that “omitted financial contributions cannot determine a lack of protection [for the copyright holder]” (para. 15 of the judgment). Finally, the Regional Administrative Tribunal found that the Regulation and its provisions complied with EU law, noting especially that the Communications Authority had, as early as September 2013, conveyed to the European Commission the text of the proposed scheme of the Regulation, as required by EU Directive 98/34 (so-called transparency directive). The Commission did indeed submit its own observations and, subsequently, upon receiving the updated version of the Regulation draft in January 2014, stated it had no further comments. Consequently, no issues could be raised with regard to the compliance of the Regulation with EU norms either, and for all those reasons the Tribunal rejected the claim for annulment of the Regulation adopted by the Communications Authority.


AGCOM REGULATION ON COPYRIGHT HELD LAWFUL: REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ISSUES VERY RECENT JUDGMENT. THE LAW FIRM LGV AVVOCATI HAS ALREADY DEALT WITH THE ISSUE ON THE 25TH EDITION OF THE PUBLICATION “QUADERNI DI AIDA – IL REGOLAMENTO AGCOM SUL DIRITTO D’AUTORE”.

4/04/2017

With an extremely recent decision dated 30 March 2017, the Regional Administrative Tribunal for Latium rejected the claim for annulment of the regulation adopted by the Communications Authority with resolution no. 680/13/CONS of 12 December 2013 concerning the protection of copyrighted works on electronic communications networks. The issue and the regulation have already been commented by Ms Simona Lavagnini just after its entry into force, in 2014, in the 25th release of the well-known publication “Quaderni di AIDA- Il regolamento Agcom sul diritto d’autore”.


 

AGCOM is the Italian Communications Authority, responsible for supervising the implementation of fair competition among market operators and for protecting fundamental rights in the telecommunications, mass media and editorial sectors. In December 2013, the Authority adopted a Regulation dealing with the protection of copyrighted works made available on electronic communications networks (foremost, the Internet). The most important provisions of the Regulation are those allowing the copyright holder to petition the Authority in cases where his or her digital work has been made available on an Internet page and he or she believes that doing so amounts to an infringement of the Copyright Law. The Regulation then provides for an examination phase involving the service providers and, if possible, the person or entity that has made the content available on the web (i.e. the “uploader”), as well as the administrator of the web page and Internet website. This procedure can either end with the archiving of the case; or, alternatively, where a violation has been found, the Authority can adopt different types of measures such as selective removal of the works, disabling access to said works or disabling access to the Internet website. The innovative powers conferred by the regulation to the Authority brought some Italian scholars to examine in depth the upcoming scenario in the on-line copyright enforcement. The results of said analysis have been published on the 25th release of the well-known publication “Quaderni di AIDA” to which Ms. Simona Lavagnini has actively collaborated.

Shortly after its adoption a claim was put forward before the Regional Administrative Tribunal for Latium by a varied host of consumer and industry associations, who set forth a number of arguments which, summarily, were to the effect that with the adoption of the Regulation the Authority had exercised powers it had not been granted under the law. However, with its decision of 30 March 2017, the Tribunal held that such claim had no basis, for several reasons.

To begin with, it emerged that from a global reading of the applicable norms, the electronic communications providers are – contrary to what had been argued by the petitioners – required to collaborate with the Authority in pursuing copyright infringements carried out on their networks. More precisely, the Tribunal held that: “a systematic reading of the legislation confirms the existence of regulatory and supervising powers which the Authority can exercise with respect to the service providers, also by way of application of measures aimed at ending infringements of the Copyright Law, these being remedies that are concurrent and not substitutive of those conferred on the ordinary legislative authorities” (para. 6.4 of the judgment). Therefore, the Tribunal held that the Communications Authority is indeed the body responsible for monitoring copyright infringements occurring within the context of electronic communication, that it could and should have adopted means of exercising its functions, that it did so with the adoption of the Regulation and that this in no way encroached upon the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts (so-called “judicial and administrative double-track”). Furthermore, the Tribunal found that the adoption of the Regulation complied with the Italian Constitution. The Tribunal explicitly stated that, by adopting the Regulation, the Communications Authority had validly exercised its regulatory powers and, moreover, that the provisions of the Regulation “are not such as to raise any issues of unconstitutionality requiring intervention by the Constitutional Court” (para. 8).

In addition to the above, the Tribunal went on to consider the other points of the claim for annulment of the Regulation. In particular, the Tribunal held that the Authority can also issue blocking orders against infringers of copyrighted digital works, without thereby infringing EU law  (para. 11 of the judgment). It also addressed the claim set forth by the petitioners to the effect that the costs of removals of infringing content entirely fell upon the ISPs, whereas the copyright holder, who could unlimitedly report infringements, incurred no such expenses. The Tribunal was unpersuaded by such argument and rejected it completely, incisively noting that “omitted financial contributions cannot determine a lack of protection [for the copyright holder]” (para. 15 of the judgment). Finally, the Regional Administrative Tribunal found that the Regulation and its provisions complied with EU law, noting especially that the Communications Authority had, as early as September 2013, conveyed to the European Commission the text of the proposed scheme of the Regulation, as required by EU Directive 98/34 (so-called transparency directive). The Commission did indeed submit its own observations and, subsequently, upon receiving the updated version of the Regulation draft in January 2014, stated it had no further comments. Consequently, no issues could be raised with regard to the compliance of the Regulation with EU norms either, and for all those reasons the Tribunal rejected the claim for annulment of the Regulation adopted by the Communications Authority.


REGOLAMENTO AGCOM LEGITTIMO: LO DECIDE CON UNA RECENTISSIMA SENTENZA IL TAR DELLA REGIONE LAZIO. LO STUDIO LGV AVVOCATI SI ERA GIÀ OCCUPATO DELLA QUESTIONE NEL 25ESIMO QUADERNO DI AIDA “IL REGOLAMENTO AGCOM SUL DIRITTO D’AUTORE”.

4/04/2017

Con sentenza pubblicata il 30 marzo 2017, il TAR del Lazio ha deciso che è legittimo il Regolamento adottato da AGCOM con delibera n. 680/13/CON del 12 dicembre 2013 recante una disciplina per la tutela del diritto d’autore sulle reti di comunicazione elettronica. La questione ed il Regolamento sono stati commentati dall’Avv. Simona Lavagnini all’indomani della sua emanazione, nel 2014, con alcuni contributi pubblicati nel 25esimo Quaderno di AIDA “Il regolamento Agcom sul diritto d’autore”.


 

AGCOM (Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni) è un organo amministrativo di controllo e garanzia preposto allo svolgimento della duplice funzione di monitoraggio della concorrenza nel mercato e della tutela dei diritti fondamentali nei settori delle telecomunicazioni, dei mass media e dell’editoria. Nel dicembre 2013, AGCOM adottava il Regolamento oggetto di recente controversia con il quale introduceva una disciplina per la tutela del diritto d’autore sulle reti di comunicazione elettronica, al fine di assicurare ai titolari dei diritti il beneficio della protezione autorale anche in ambito digitale. In particolare, il Regolamento AGCOM prevede che il titolare del diritto d’autore, qualora ritenga che un’opera digitale sia stata resa disponibile su una pagina internet in violazione della legge sul diritto d’autore (L. n. 633 del 1941), può presentare un’istanza all’Autorità, chiedendone la rimozione. La presentazione dell’istanza da parte del soggetto interessato determina l’instaurarsi di un procedimento istruttorio innanzi all’Autorità stessa che può o concludersi con l’archiviazione disposta dalla Direzione servizi media dell’Autorità o, se ritenuta sussistente una violazione, consentire all’Autorità di disporre la rimozione selettiva delle opere oppure la disabilitazione dell’accesso alle stesse oppure ancora la disabilitazione dell’accesso al sito. La portata innovativa dell’attribuzione di tali poteri all’Autorità ha portato parte della dottrina italiana ad approfondire la tematica attraverso la pubblicazione della citata 25esima edizione dei Quaderni di AIDA interamente dedicata al regolamento AGCOM, per la realizzazione della quale l’Avv. Simona Lavagnini ha portato attivamente il suo contributo.

Successivamente, varie associazioni di categoria e di tutela dei consumatori proponevano ricorso amministrativo contro il Regolamento AGCOM, lamentando che la sua adozione da parte dell’Autorità costituiva una violazione del principio di legalità nonché, più in generale, un esercizio di poteri non conferiti dalla legge alla suddetta Autorità. Con sentenza del 30 marzo 2017, il TAR del Lazio ha rigettato totalmente il ricorso proposto, ritenendone infondati i motivi nel merito.

Innanzitutto, il Giudice amministrativo ha rilevato che, da una lettura sistematica delle norme applicabili in materia, emerge che i prestatori dei servizi di comunicazione elettronica, pur non essendo soggetti a un obbligo generale di sorveglianza o di ricerca di fatti o circostanze illecite sulla loro rete, sono comunque obbligati a collaborare con AGCOM al fine di garantire una tutela efficace del diritto d’autore. Pertanto, ne discende che debba essere riconosciuto necessariamente un potere di vigilanza in capo all’Autorità: “una lettura sistematica delle disposizioni normative sin qui richiamate conferma la sussistenza dei poteri regolamentari esercitati da AGCOM nonché di quello di vigilanza, nei confronti dei prestatori dei servizi, da esercitarsi anche con l’imposizione di misure volte a porre termine alle violazioni della disciplina sul diritto d’autore, attraverso rimedi che si pongono in concorrenza, e non in sostituzione, di quelli già attribuiti all’Autorità giudiziaria”. Così statuendo, il Tribunale amministrativo ha confermato sussistenti in capo ad AGCOM i compiti di regolamentazione e di vigilanza nel settore del diritto d’autore (cui, peraltro, l’Autorità si era attenuta proprio con l’adozione del Regolamento in parola) senza che lo svolgimento di tali funzioni potesse considerarsi un’invasione della giurisdizione del giudice ordinario (c.d. “doppio binario giudiziario-amministrativo”). Inoltre, il TAR non riscontrava alcun profilo di illegittimità costituzionale inerente al Regolamento o alla procedura seguita per la sua adozione, osservando sul punto che: “il potere regolamentare di AGCOM è stato, nella specie, validamente esercitato e la disciplina delle modalità di esercizio delle funzioni di vigilanza dell’Autorità nel settore delle comunicazioni elettroniche, descritta nel regolamento impugnato, non presenta potenziali profili di incostituzionalità che debbano essere sottoposti al Giudice delle leggi”.

Il Tribunale amministrativo ha riconosciuto all’Autorità il potere di emanare provvedimenti inibitori, anche in conformità alla normativa europea. Ha inoltre rigettato il motivo di ricorso proposto dai ricorrenti a mente del quale i costi delle rimozioni sono integralmente a carico degli ISP (internet service provider), mentre i titolari del diritto d’autore, che non incontrano limiti nel numero di segnalazioni che possono avanzare, non contribuiscono in alcun modo al bilancio dell’Autorità. In merito il TAR puntualmente osservava che: “non può farsi discendere dall’assenza del contributo un diniego di tutela, non trattandosi di prestazioni corrispettive”. Infine, il Giudice amministrativo rilevava che lo Schema di Regolamento era stato regolarmente notificato alla Commissione Europea a norma della Direttiva 98/34 (c.d. direttiva trasparenza), le cui osservazioni in merito erano state successivamente integrate dall’Autorità in una seconda versione del testo rispetto al quale la Commissione ha affermato di non avere più alcuna osservazione da proporre. Dunque, nemmeno sotto questo profilo il TAR ha riscontrato alcun fondamento per ordinare l’annullamento del Regolamento AGCOM, e cumulativamente con le ragioni di cui sopra, ha rigettato il ricorso proposto contro lo stesso.


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESENTS THE EU REGULATION PROPOSAL ON THE SO CALLED “E-PRIVACY”.

28/03/2017

On January 10, 2017, the European Commission sent to the EU Parliament the proposal for the EU Regulation concerning the protection of personal data in electronic communications. Such proposal, which is part of the “Strategy for a Unified Digital Market” recently promoted by the EU institutions in order to enhance the public confidence in digital services and in their safety, constitutes a lex specialis of the new EU Regulation no. 679/2016 on privacy and will complete the rules concerning the protection of the information included in electronic communications and having the character of “personal data”. If approved, the new regulation will repeal the EU Directive 2002/58/CE concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the sector of electronic communications.


 

The aim of the Regulation is to adapt the current European legal framework to the latest developments in the field of electronic communications, especially after the spread in the market of new models of communication and messaging, so-called “Over the top”, such as Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp.

The main innovations contained in the regulation proposal are: i) the provision of stricter rules for the processing, by electronic communication providers, of the data contained in electronic communications: the provider will in fact be obliged to remove or otherwise anonymize such data once the recipient of the communication has received its content (art. 7); ii) the simplification of the rules on “cookies”: the user’s consent won’t in fact be necessary anymore for the saving, among others, of cookies necessary to measure the number of website visitors or of cookies that are required to guarantee the website’s functionality in favour of the user (eg. storage of items in a shopping cart of an e-commerce website) (art. 8); iii) the provision of stronger guarantees for the users of so-called interpersonal communication services based on a number (eg. mobile telephony services): the providers of such services will be required to make available to the user services that enable the generalized block of anonymous calls or of calls coming from specific numbers (art. 12 and 14).

According to the legislative procedure for the approval of EU regulations, this proposal of regulation, in order to acquire force of law and to become directly applicable in all Member States, must now be approved by both the European Parliament and the EU Council. The aim is to let the Regulation enter into force on 25 May 2018, together with EU Regulation on privacy.


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESENTS THE EU REGULATION PROPOSAL ON THE SO CALLED “E-PRIVACY”.

28/03/2017

On January 10, 2017, the European Commission sent to the EU Parliament the proposal for the EU Regulation concerning the protection of personal data in electronic communications. Such proposal, which is part of the “Strategy for a Unified Digital Market” recently promoted by the EU institutions in order to enhance the public confidence in digital services and in their safety, constitutes a lex specialis of the new EU Regulation no. 679/2016 on privacy and will complete the rules concerning the protection of the information included in electronic communications and having the character of “personal data”. If approved, the new regulation will repeal the EU Directive 2002/58/CE concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the sector of electronic communications.


 

The aim of the Regulation is to adapt the current European legal framework to the latest developments in the field of electronic communications, especially after the spread in the market of new models of communication and messaging, so-called “Over the top”, such as Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp.

The main innovations contained in the regulation proposal are: i) the provision of stricter rules for the processing, by electronic communication providers, of the data contained in electronic communications: the provider will in fact be obliged to remove or otherwise anonymize such data once the recipient of the communication has received its content (art. 7); ii) the simplification of the rules on “cookies”: the user’s consent won’t in fact be necessary anymore for the saving, among others, of cookies necessary to measure the number of website visitors or of cookies that are required to guarantee the website’s functionality in favour of the user (eg. storage of items in a shopping cart of an e-commerce website) (art. 8); iii) the provision of stronger guarantees for the users of so-called interpersonal communication services based on a number (eg. mobile telephony services): the providers of such services will be required to make available to the user services that enable the generalized block of anonymous calls or of calls coming from specific numbers (art. 12 and 14).

According to the legislative procedure for the approval of EU regulations, this proposal of regulation, in order to acquire force of law and to become directly applicable in all Member States, must now be approved by both the European Parliament and the EU Council. The aim is to let the Regulation enter into force on 25 May 2018, together with EU Regulation on privacy.